First Horsham district electric private hire/taxi on the road

Horsham District Council, which is responsible for licensing all private hire/taxi vehicles across the district, gave Billingshurst based taxi company Jake’s Cars a boost by licensing its fully electric vehicle at a much reduced rate for the first year of its operation.

Cabinet Member for Public Protection and Housing Kate Rowbottom commented: “I am delighted that we have been able to help drive down pollution emissions in the district.

“This is an excellent opportunity for us as a council to support a local company actively wanting to reduce air pollution and it very much supports the council’s commitment to being at the forefront of environmental innovations in transport.”

The council is offering its licensing discount for the first 12 months for any all-electric private hire/taxi cab in Horsham District.

This comes as the Government intends to move drivers away from traditional petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 urging them to shift to ultra-low and zero emission vehicles.

Commenting on the trend of new zero emission cars, Jake Edsor owner of Jake’s Cars said: “I am very proud to have the first taxi like this in Horsham, it’s a great initiative and I am grateful to the Council for their help with this.”

There are two rapid charge points in the district where cars can be charged and ready to go in 20 minutes. The cost for using these points is £0.30 per kilowatt with a minimum charge of £1.50 and an overstay charge of £5 for more than one hour.

These are located at:

* Storrington - Library car park, Ryecroft lane, North Street, RH20 4PA

* Billingshurst - Six Bells Car Park, Mill Lane, Billingshurst RH14 9LB

There are also slow charge points in Horsham in the North Street car park RH12 1RL which typically take three hours to charge.

There are local restrictions and parking charges.

Other charge points are available in Waitrose in Horsham, at Horsham British Rail Station and other locations linked to hotels.

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